In memory of Paul Simon Brewer

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All about Paul

Paul Simon Brewer: 06.08.1983 to 04.03.2010

These were the words used in the Appreciation at Paul's funeral

Paul was born on 6th August, 1983 and as a baby didn’t eat or drink well, had colic, threw up all the time, never slept through the night, and prompted the comment from us that if he had been our first child we wouldn’t have had another one! He then grew up into the most loving and caring young man ever. From all the 100’s of messages from family and friends and on facebook it seems that he was loved by everyone with whom he came into contact, and his sparkly blue eyes and ready smile will always be remembered.

From the day he was born, Paul always had his big sister Claire, and his “big brothers”, Will and Pete Hayes to look up to. The many Christmases and holidays spent with the two families together have always been very special.

We remember his time in St Dominic, Cornwall, where Paul spent his early years with his friend and “twin” Kieron, and attended the small village school, and then after moving to Devon in 1994, Paul and Claire’s first day at a big new school in Ashburton, where they knew no one but each other. It didn’t take long for both of them to settle in at South Dartmoor and Paul very quickly became involved in all the sports on offer, representing the school in many of them.

He was one of the first”boy dancers “at school, and many will remember the group’s amazing “dustbin dance,” where full-size metal dustbins were thrown through the air across the stage and when stationery on the stage, leapt over by the boys.

Paul’s love of surfing began during family holidays in Cornwall, where his keenness and natural ability meant that good friends Jey and Mark Newcombe took him out into the deep water and big waves on his body board, whilst we watched nervously from the shore. It took a great deal of effort to prevent Paul from progressing to a full surf board before he had the physical strength to match his total lack of fear.

Whilst at school, and before University, Paul developed a taste for exploration and travel, starting with a Caribbean cruise when he was 15, then when in the sixth form he was one of a group of students who did a dance tour in Australia. During his gap year after sixth form, he worked to make money and then travelled to Australia, New Zealand, Thailand and Bali, surfing on the way. He even wrote his final dissertation at University about Terrorism and Tourism, though we had the suspicion that this was an excuse to return to Bali.

After travelling, Paul chose to go to University, with Swansea being first choice because there was good surfing nearby, and Cardiff being second choice as the next closest!!! He didn’t want to go anywhere else. Whilst in Swansea, Paul shared accommodation with other surfers and they remained good friends long after leaving University. Paul spent much time on the Isle of Wight with his close friend Hugo and family, and through them was offered the opportunity to work in Morocco with Hugo’s elder brother and business partner.

It is a tragedy for someone like Paul to die so young, but what a life he had! We will carry his loss forever, and it will be extremely hard to bear at times, but we are surrounded by amazing support from family and friends, for which we thank you from the bottom of our hearts and which we know will continue throughout this difficult journey.

These last couple of weeks have been the most excruciatingly painful experience, from the stomach-turning moment we were told the news by a very brave young man and close friend of Paul’s - the see-saw of emotions, taking it in turns to support each other, through to the gradual realisation and acceptance of the truth. But there have been and will continue to be moments of great joy and pride as we have remembered and been told by others what an amazing son, brother, cousin, nephew and above all friend Paul was to so many people.

We are immensely proud of everything Paul achieved in his short life, and he has touched and influenced the lives of so many others. He is an inspiration to us all.

Our thoughts go out to everyone who is suffering from his loss along with us. We have lost a wonderful son and brother, and they have lost a wonderful friend.